The present invention concerns the field of laundry washing techniques.
In particular, the present invention refers to a treating agents dispenser in a laundry washing machine.
Nowadays the use of laundry washing machines, both “simple” laundry washing machines (i.e. laundry washing machines which can only wash and rinse laundry) and laundry washing-drying machines (i.e. laundry washing machines which can also dry laundry), is widespread. In the present description the term “laundry washing machine” will refer to both simple laundry washing machine and laundry washing-drying machine.
Laundry washing machines generally comprise an external casing, or cabinet, provided with a washing tub which contains a rotatable perforated drum where the laundry is placed. A loading/unloading door ensures access to the drum. Laundry washing machines typically comprise a treating agents dispenser arranged to the frontal side wall of the cabinet, opportunely in an upper region of the latter, positioned above the tub for the introduction of water and treating agents (i.e. detergent, softener, rinse conditioner, etc.) into the tub.
Known treating agents dispensers comprise one or more reservoirs, or compartments, adapted to be filled with at least one treating agent and one or more respective water conveying lines for conveying water to the compartments. Water conveying lines are typically realized in a water distributor placed above the compartments. The water distributor is opportunely shaped to define channels provided with apertures allowing water coming from the water main to fall down in the underlying compartments.
Known treating agents dispensers are advantageously connectable to a water source via dedicated controllable supply valves. Typically, the water source adducts cold water to the treating agents dispenser. Other known treating agents dispensers are connectable to a warm or hot water source.
The cabinet of the laundry washing machine typically has at the rear an access for allowing a connection to the water/s source/s and said supply valves are arranged closed to, or fixed to, the inner side of the rear wall of the cabinet. One or more connecting pipes are then utilized to connect at one end said valves and at an opposite end the water distributor of the treating agents dispenser. For this purpose, water distributors of known type are provided with horizontal inlet connectors rearwardly projecting from the body of the water distributor which are connected to said opposite ends of the connecting pipes. Furthermore, fastening means, for example a clamp, are used to secure ends of the pipes and valves and/or inlets of the water distributor tightly together. However, the system for supplying water above described belonging to the known art poses some drawbacks.
A first drawback posed by the known technique is constituted by the fact that the system for supplying water is cumbersome. In fact, said arrangement comprises said treating agents dispenser, horizontal inlet connectors rearwardly projecting from the water distributor, connecting pipe/s and valves wherein all these elements are substantially aligned from the front side of the cabinet to the rear side of the same. In particular, the connection system between valves and the water distributor comprising connecting pipe/s requires a relevant space at the rear side of the laundry washing machine. This firstly negatively affects the size of the laundry washing machine, in particular the distance between the front side and the rear side of the laundry washing machine. This also negatively affects manufacturing costs of the treating agents dispenser and/or of the drawer of the laundry washing machine. On the other hand, a prefixed distance between the front side and the rear side of the laundry washing machine, for example size required by standards, limits the size of the treating agents dispenser and in particular of the drawer.